Old meets new at Valentino

Thursday 28 February 2008 19.11 EST
First published on Thursday 28 February 2008 19.11 EST

The unimpeachable elegance of the Valentino label had clients in raptures at Paris fashion week yesterday, just as it has done for the past 46 years. But this was not the work of Valentino Garavani, who retired last month. The show marked a surprise triumphant debut by new designer Alessandra Facchinetti.

Like Valentino, Facchinetti is Italian, but there the resemblances end. Facchinetti is, at 35, less than half his age, and where Valentino kept alive an old fashioned, courtly devotion to the decorativeness of women Facchinetti is a dynamic modern career woman.

Stefano Sassi, chief executive of the Valentino group, has described the label's 2007 revenue of €260m (£198m) as leaving "a major opportunity to develop". The appointment of Facchinetti signals Sassi's ambition to attract a younger, less traditional clientele.

The appointment raised eyebrows. Facchinetti succeeded Tom Ford at Gucci, after he fell out with the company in 2004, and was dismissed a week after her second catwalk show. But she silenced critics yesterday with a collection that captured Valentino's air of refined seduction while bringing the look bang up to date. So the models had their hair in traditional chignons and wore simple, classic court shoes, but there was a suppleness and wit to the clothes which marked a departure from Valentino's anachronistic formality.

Yesterday, in front of an audience which included Valentino's long-term business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, the Valentino bow was reborn as a bow-shaped metal buckle, new-look ruffles appeared as a shark's fin of chiffon fluttering down the spine of a cocktail dress and Valentino's signature red appeared in rows of tiny tear-shaped buttons.